Maybe, Baby
by Saturnian Sorceress
Summary: Sequel to "Wedding Bells." Now married, Courtney and Duncan prepare for the next chapter of their lives...parenthood.
1. Of memories and news

"Come on, come on."

Courtney stopped pacing and sunk down to sit on the toilet seat, checking her watch one more time. The waiting was killing her, it was always the worst part, and she had done this more times then she would like to remember. The house was silent for once, Duncan was still at work, but he would be home within the next several hours. Placing her head in her hands with a sigh, Courtney unwillingly began reminiscing about the past two years of her life and marriage.

It's common knowledge that the first year of marriage is the most difficult, but that is usually because there are a lot of necessary transitions that need to be dealt with and not every couple deals with them well. Duncan and Courtney had adapted to married life just fine; they had already been living together, so all they had needed to take care of was consolidating some of their funds.

For all intents and purposes they were believed to be the perfect couple. They were friendly and helpful neighbors, always offering up babysitting services or a ladder. They both had respectable jobs and were never shy in putting together parties for family and friends. It seemed that the only thing that could make them even more perfect was to have an addition to their family.

Right after their honeymoon was the first time Courtney found out she was pregnant. The couple had been ecstatic and so had their family and friends. They were excited to be able to start expanding their family, to be able to dote on a child, _their_ child. During their first doctor's appointment though, they were given horrible news. The doctor was unable to find a heartbeat, which so early in a pregnancy isn't completely unnatural, but there was no sign of a baby. Courtney had had a miscarriage.

The doctor explained to the devastated couple that things like this happened and unfortunately, as was the case for Courtney, there wasn't usually an explanation. Courtney and Duncan were told that this 'setback' shouldn't stop them from trying again in a few months because both were young and healthy.

Taking the doctors advice the two tried again months later, only to be met again with the same cruel fate and this time Courtney's life had nearly been lost too. Their relationship became strained. Duncan worked longer and more hours and tended to walk on pins and needles around his wife. Courtney had retreated into herself, placing all of the blame of the two miscarriages on her shoulders solely. The situation took its toll on her physically, mentally, and emotionally. She lost weight, became depressed, and Duncan was usually woken up at night by her crying in her sleep. Both knew that something had to be done in order to save their marriage and themselves.

The pair decided to stop trying to start a family and attempt to get things back to the way they were before. And so that's what they had been doing for the past year and a half and slowly they had regained some sort of normalcy. But no false cheeriness could make either of them forget…

Checking her watch again, Courtney shakily stood up. She brought the stick up to her closed eyes, took a deep breath, and cracked an eye open. She sighed and sunk to the floor when she read the results.

* * *

Duncan groaned as the front door slammed shut behind him. It had been a long, long, day and he was thrilled to be home. Recently his job as a counselor at the local juvenile detention center had been leaving him exhausted. He just wanted to have dinner, preferably with some type of alcoholic beverage he wasn't going to be picky, take a hot shower, and be able to sleep for a month. His mood faltered slightly knowing his last wish was impossible, but he would take what he could get.

"Honey, I'm home!"

He put his stuff in the hall closet and made his way to the living room were Courtney was aimlessly flipping channels. He collapsed next to her, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Not removing her eyes from the television Courtney said, "I ordered a pizza, it's on the kitchen table. You can have however much you want, I'm not hungry."

"My day was great sweetie, thanks for asking. How was yours?" Duncan questioned sarcastically.

"I need to show you something."

Courtney grabbed Duncan's arm, ignoring his protests, and pulled him into the bathroom, flipping on the light almost harshly. She pointed to the sink counter before sitting precariously on the edge of the tub.

"Are those…," Duncan trailed off.

He stoically walked over to the counter taking in the pregnancy tests, all five of them, and carefully studied the results. Before he had the opportunity to comment on the results, Courtney let out a strangled sob.

Duncan turned towards her and knelt between her legs, grasping her hands and soothingly running his fingers over her knuckles.

"Court…"

"Don't. Just don't."

Courtney took in a shuddery breath, leaning forward to touch her forehead to Duncan's before continuing in a broken whisper.

"I don't know if I, if we, can handle it if something were to happen again."

"Baby, you can't think like that," Duncan stated, wiping away stray tears from her cheeks.

"If something happens, God forbid, we will get through it, I promise you."

"Yeah, I know," Courtney snorted. "It's silly; I thought you might actually be mad at me."

"That's beyond silly, it's stupid. 'Sides if I remember correctly we had a very goodtime making the little bugger."

Courtney laughed and smiled genuinely.

"So, you okay now?"

"No, but I'm getting better."

Courtney fell into Duncan's open arms and captured his lips in a gentle kiss. He pulled her up off the side of the tub and spun her around, letting out a "Whoop!" to mix with her surprised shriek.

"We're gonna have a baby!"

**A/N: This is the sequel to "Wedding Bells" and it's for all those fantastic reviewers I had for that story who wanted a sequel! As a heads up, it won't be heavy on extra characters (although you will see some), the main focus will be on Courtney and Duncan. So, let me know what you think! **


	2. Of parents and friends

"So who do we tell first?"

"Your parents."

"I just feel like we could do better," Duncan began. "I mean we basically know how my parents are going to react, why not tell our friends first? At least their reactions should be varied."

"Yes, let's tell our friends…only to have them tell your parents before we get the chance. That'll go over well I'm sure," Courtney chastised.

"Fine and I'm sure you want to tell them in person, right? Because over the phone is too impersonal."

"You know me so well."

"I'm just that good."

Duncan stood and left the bedroom, presumably to call his parents and let them know they would be stopping by, leaving Courtney to finish writing her e-mail.

Courtney's parents, Scott and Cindy, had abandoned her altogether when she had announced her engagement to Duncan, believing their little girl was making a big mistake and ruining her life. She had been crushed by their rejection, but sent them regular e-mails, that she never got responses to, to keep them up to date on her life. Her parents were miserable human beings, she could admit that much, but they were still her parents and nothing would change that.

Courtney had just hit the send button, when Duncan strolled into the room with an eyebrow quirked up.

"So telling your 'rents the good news?"

"Mmhmm. I think they should know about the possibility of their first grandchild."

"Yeah and people in hell want ice water," Duncan mumbled so Courtney couldn't hear him. The Powell's would always be a bone of contention between them.

"Anyway, I tried to convince Mom to let us come over this weekend, ya know 'cause it's a school night for you, but she insisted we come over tonight for dinner. I couldn't turn her down."

Courtney powered off the computer and walked up to him, planting a quick kiss on his lips and resting her hands on his hips.

"I know sweetie. You're a mamma's boy, but I love you anyway."

"Wow, you sure know how to make a guy feel good about himself."

"It's like a gift. Now put on a nice shirt," Courtney demanded and walked out of the bedroom, slapping his butt on her way out.

"That's sexual harassment!"

"It's not if you like it!"

Sighing, Duncan opened the bedroom closet and began rifling through his shirts.

"I love that woman."

* * *

"Oh, hi guys, I've missed you!"

Jane pulled her son and daughter-in-law into the house, practically suffocating them in her bone crushing hugs.

"I haven't seen you two in so long. How are you? What's new?"

"Jane let them breathe first before you start drilling them with questions."

The couple grinned at Paul's shouted comment from the other room. Paul only spoke when absolutely necessary, but it was always fun when he did. Duncan and Courtney met up with Paul in the kitchen where he was busying himself by setting the table. When the couple walked in, he looked up and immediately walked over to Courtney pulling her into a tight hug; he was fiercely protective of her and thought of her as the daughter he never had.

"Hello sweetheart."

"Hi Dad," Courtney smiled up at him.

"Yeah, hi Dad. Remember me, your son, Duncan?"

"Don't be rude boy," Paul joked, although his tone made it clear he was at least half serious. "I was getting to you."

Jane chose that moment to make her entrance, ushering Courtney to a seat at the table as she spoke.

"Hope you kids are hungry, we have a lot of food."

"Yeah, your mother went overboard. Again."

"Leftovers are always a good thing, Paul. You two can take home as much as you want, save Courtney some cooking."

"Hey, I cook," Duncan spoke up, sounding offended.

"Ordering Chinese doesn't count as cooking, babe."

That was how the entire dinner went. The family shared stories and laughter, enjoying each others company. It was true that Jane had gone overboard with preparing food. The Greek salad was followed by Jane's famous homemade lasagna and garlic bread and a cheesecake for dessert. As Courtney inhaled her second piece of cake, Duncan decided it was time to tell his parents the real reason they had stopped by.

"So, as much as we love visiting you guys, Court and I actually have something important to tell you. We're going to have a baby."

"Oh a grandchild from my baby! Oh!" Jane was close to spontaneously combusting and ran around the table pulling Courtney from her seat and into her second bone crushing of the evening.

"Oh, how do you feel sweetie?"

"Fine actually. I mean we just found out, I'm only a few weeks along, so nothing to really complain about yet," Courtney explained, swallowing a bite of cake.

"Well it's safe to say your mother and I are very excited for you two and if you need anything you know where to find us," Paul said, patting Duncan on the back.

At the end of the night, as Courtney and Jane were saying their goodbyes, Paul pulled Duncan aside and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Son I want you to take good care of her, regardless of what may or may not happen. I don't want to see either of you the way you were after the first two…you know."

"I know Dad. We're both praying this works out. I can't stand to see Court upset or hurt or worried, but I know she's terrified of something happening again and it just sucks that I can't do anything to alleviate her fears."

"Well you two are good together. You look out for each other, either way you'll be fine. I'm hoping for the best for you two, you deserve happiness."

"Thanks Dad," Duncan said, giving him a hug goodbye.

"And Duncan, I just want you to know, for the record I think you'll both make great parents. I think you'll be a great father."

"That means a lot Dad, thanks."

"Well, Courtney's already in the car so you should go, but if either of you need anything do _not_ hesitate to call."

"We won't. Bye Dad."

Kissing Jane goodbye, Duncan ran out to the car where Courtney was patiently waiting, seatbelt buckled and ready to go.

"Did Dad give you any good advice?" Courtney questioned.

"More than you could ever know."

* * *

The following weekend found Duncan and Courtney standing on the doorstep of Bridgette and Geoff's beach house. In the previous two years the pair had moved from their small apartment, so that Bridgette could be closer to her surf business and to make a larger move towards actual adulthood.

The beach house was beautiful with two levels and large windows overlooking the water. The selling point had been that Geoff's more hardcore party guests could stay on the second level, while the more laidback guests mingled with Bridgette on the first. Geoff's powerboat was on shore, covered with a tarp to protect from the weather. This was the closest the couple would probably ever get to a life of domesticity and they both seemed happy with the arrangement.

The door swung open revealing a beaming Geoff.

"What's up dude and dudette? Glad you made it, come on in!"

The couple walked into the spacious living room where mostly women were talking, drinking, and lounging on the plush furniture.

"As you can see," Geoff began, "most of the dudettes are chilling down here with my best gal, while the dudes are upstairs with me watching the game. Duncan, dude, I finally got that pool table set up too!"

Duncan threw Courtney a withering glance, pouting his lips and nearly batting his eyelashes; Courtney rolled her eyes.

"I don't care if you go play pool with the boys."

"Thanks baby." Duncan kissed her quickly before following Geoff up the stairs to the 'party floor.'

"You've got him trained. I gotta say I'm impressed."

Courtney turned and pulled the owner of the voice into a friendly hug.

"Behind every good man is a woman who's controlling him," Courtney joked. "It's great to see you Gwen, it has been way too long."

"I know! Trent just got finished with his tour, so we were just happy we got here. Come on, grab some grub and we'll catch-up."

It turned out that Gwen and Trent were the only people, aside from Bridgette and Geoff, Courtney knew at the party. Trent had come downstairs, for more alcohol, but had stopped to say 'hello' and to let Courtney know that Duncan was kicking his ass at pool.

"You want another drink?"

"Um, nah, I'm good," Gwen replied. "Courtney, you want anything?"

"No, I can't."

"Oh, okay. Well I'll see you ladies later; I have to return to your husband so he can take more of my money." Trent gave Gwen a lingering kiss before disappearing upstairs.

"So are you on pills or something?"

"No," Courtney hesitated before continuing. "It's just that pregnant women shouldn't drink."

Gwen froze and her eyes widened.

"Shut-up! Holy crap, congratulations!"

"Thanks," Courtney blushed.

"Oh my God, Bridgette, Bridgette come here Courtney needs to tell you something!"

Bridgette made her way from the kitchen to the living room couch, stumbling a little bit as she went, miraculously not spilling her drink in the process. She collapsed in between Gwen and Courtney, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"What Gwen?" Gwen gave Courtney a pointed look.

"Well, I was hoping to tell you when you were a little more…coherent, but I'm pregnant."

Bridgette stared at her open-mouthed.

"JC Chasez, that's incredible!"

Leaning over so her mouth was level with Courtney's flat stomach, Bridgette began to speak softly.

"Hi baby, it's your Aunt Bridgette. How are you? Are you all warm and cozy and protected in there?"

Courtney raised an eyebrow at Gwen.

"Just let her go. God only knows what'll happen if you ask her to stop."

* * *

"A baby? Dude, you're gonna be a dad! You are seriously getting old. How're you feelin'?"

"Slightly sick to my stomach Geoff, now hit the damn ball."

"Please, Courtney's going to be doing all of the work, all you have to do is support her," Trent put in, taking a swig of his beer.

"Well yeah," Duncan agreed, taking his turn at the pool table. "But I'm gonna have do stuff too."

"Holding her hair back as she pukes doesn't take skill, man. Eventually Courtney's gonna start feeling down on herself and it's your job to perk her back up."

"Who are you Dr. Phil? How do you know this stuff?"

"I have two older sisters and I'm an uncle to five. There's no way I'd have made it this far in life if I didn't learn a thing or two," Trent explained.

"You just officially moved to number one on my speed dial."

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! And if you're adding it to your faves. and haven't reviewed...I'd love to hear from you! :D**** Just a side note, as the story progresses anything that seems out of character, especially with Duncan, is on purpose. The possibilty of becoming a parent is a lifechanging one...so you do and say things that you wouldn't normally. **


	3. Of fragility and fighting

It was a Friday morning and Duncan dragged himself into the kitchen and straight to the coffee machine turning it on. He then backtracked to turn the light on. As the room was bathed in artificial light Duncan jumped when he turned around and noticed Courtney slumped forward on the kitchen table.

"Jesus, how long have you been sitting there?" Duncan took in her appearance, realizing that she was already dressed to go to work as she checked her watch.

"Just since six," Courtney sighed. "I've had to pee like every three minutes, so there was no point in trying to go back to sleep."

"I didn't even hear you get up."

"Well you sleep like you're dead so that's not surprising. Did you sleep through your alarm? I thought you were supposed to get up a half an hour ago."

"I was, if I speed to work I won't be late, so I've got to peace out. Have a good day baby, make sure to eat."

"Please I'm not five Duncan, I think I know how to take care of myself."

"Yeah, well now you're eating for two."

Courtney rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair, attempting to straighten it out. She walked up to Duncan, deciding to just end the conversation for fear of it turning into an argument.

"Have a good day, sweetie. Oh and I'm going to call and set up my first doctor's appointment, so we can both go. Drive carefully."

Accepting her kiss eagerly Duncan turned to leave.

"I'll try. You have a good day too. Hopefully I'll be home on time tonight, ya know, and not have to stay late."

"I understand regardless. Good-luck! Now go, there are troubled kids who need your guidance."

"Oh yeah I'm sure they're all looking forward to seeing their counselor. Thank God it's Friday," Duncan muttered before walking out the door to begin his day.

* * *

Around 6 o' clock that night Duncan practically skipped through the front door. His boss, noticing Duncan's obvious bad day, took pity on him and let him go home early, but expected him to have his game face on when Monday came around.

Upon entering the house Duncan noticed that it looked remarkably cleaner than it had when he had left that morning. Actually it looked spotless. The carpets were vacuumed, the windows were streak free, and he couldn't see any dust anywhere. When he walked into the kitchen he had to suppress his immediate urge to laugh. The top half of Courtney's body was inside the oven, while her bottom half hung out and she was singing along to the Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way" that was blasting from the kitchens CD-Player.

"_Tell me why I never want to hear you say, I want it that way_…"

Duncan hit the off button and smirked when he heard Courtney's gasp from inside the oven followed by a muffled, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to discover your secret love for boy bands. Should I be jealous?"

By now Courtney had removed herself from the oven and her cleaning and was standing at the kitchen sink washing her hands.

"You should because if Nick Carter walked through the door, promising to take me to the Caribbean I'd go with him without hesitation."

Wrapping his arms around her waist Duncan responded coolly. "No problem, he's in a boy band I'm pretty sure I could kick his ass. Have you been cleaning the house?"

"Since I got home from school," Courtney nodded. "I've been meaning to do it forever, but just haven't had the time. Figured I'd get a jump start on it now."

"Well I hope you got your fill today because that is the last of it you'll be doing for the next nine months."

Incredulous, Courtney turned around in Duncan's embrace.

"Excuse me?"

"Princess you can't be doing housework, we don't want to endanger the safety of the baby in any way."

Pulling completely out of his grasp Courtney crossed her arms over her chest and glared.

"Don't you 'Princess' me! Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean you can control me! Who do you think you are?"

"I'm your husband and I'm doing what I think is best for you!"

"No you're not; you just don't want me to screw our family up again."

"Oh yeah because it's always all about you."

"Forget this; I don't need to take this from you. Make your own dinner, as seeing I'm no longer allowed!"

Storming past him Courtney ran into their bedroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. Duncan sighed, collapsing into a chair and covering his face with his hands.

"What the hell just happened?"

* * *

Hours later Courtney emerged from the bedroom, eyes bloodshot, looking drained and haggard. She quietly walked to the living room and took a seat next to Duncan who was listlessly staring at the television.

"About…that," Courtney began. "I think I might owe you an apology. Although I still don't agree with your implication, I could've reacted better."

Duncan didn't answer, just continued to stare; Courtney sighed, he was pouting.

"Honey, please look at me." Duncan's eyes flickered over to look at her, but no other part of his body followed the movement.

"You have to understand what your suggestion made me feel like. Like now I'm completely invalid. For God's sake, I'm not even showing yet! Do you understand? I'm not made of glass and I'm not going to break."

"I know," Duncan mumbled.

Courtney was just happy to get some kind of response out of him.

"It's just that I worry about you. The last," Duncan paused, sucking in a deep breath, "miscarriage nearly took you away from me. I'm supposed to be able to take care of you and I couldn't and I was so scared. I know I couldn't survive without you."

He turned to her, taking her hands in his.

"I love you princess and I'm sorry I was being a Neanderthal. I'll try to keep it in check."

"At least we both know where the other is coming from now, huh?"

The two sat in silence for awhile a little unsure of where to go from here. Smirking slightly Duncan turned to Courtney, pulling her into him.

"I guess we just got a small taste of your mood swings. That was a big leap from Backstreet Boys to slamming doors." Courtney blushed.

"I actually knocked the mirror off the wall, so we're going to have to get another one."

"Fantastic."

"It could've been worse," Courtney explained. "Be thankful I didn't take my golf clubs to your laptop."

**A/N: Did I date myself with the Backstreet Boys reference? LOL**


	4. Of sickness and first glimpses

Courtney rolled over onto her side rubbing her stomach gently, hoping that would soothe her sudden fit of nausea. She glanced at her alarm clock sighing when she realized it was only about 4:30 in the morning. Bolting up Courtney ran to the bathroom bee lining for the toilet.

It was the sound of her retching that woke Duncan up. Rubbing his eyes, he trudged to the bathroom leaning over Courtney's hunched frame to pull her hair from her face. When she was done she reached up and flushed, before moving to lean heavily against the bathtub. Her face was flushed and covered in a fine sheen of perspiration. Duncan felt terrible; her first trimester pregnancy symptoms had recently kicked into full gear making Courtney, and thus Duncan, quite miserable.

"Feel a little better now?"

"No, not really. I honestly don't even know what I'm throwing up anymore because there can't be anything left in my system," Courtney grumbled.

"Well, it could be worse," Duncan tried to soothe, pushing a sweaty strand of her hair behind her ear.

"How? I'm throwing up every ten minutes, and that's only if I'm lucky, I'm in a constant state of fatigue, and my back aches all of the time."

"I'd carry the kid to help you out if I could, but we both know that's impossible."

Courtney stared at him for a minute before bursting out into laughter; Duncan quirked an eyebrow inquisitively.

"It's just that I'm picturing you pregnant and it's an absolutely fabulous visual," Courtney was able to get out between laughter.

"Glad I'm amusing," Duncan smirked. "You know I was just trying to be a sweet, attentive husband and I get laughed at. I think I'm just gonna go back to bed."

Duncan pretended he was really upset, and was even able to hold back fake tears, before huffing and prancing back into the bedroom. Several minutes later, after brushing her teeth and washing her face, Courtney joined him in bed. She adjusted her pillow before snuggling up against Duncan's back.

"Thanks for holding back my hair."

"Don't mention it, Princess. What time do we need to be at the doctor's?"

"Ten," Courtney mumbled sleepily.

Duncan sighed, "So we need to be there in five hours? Ugh. Try and get some sleep."

His statement of concern was met with a short snore.

* * *

"Seriously who reads this crap?"

"Stop and put those down," Courtney demanded.

Duncan put down the stack of parenting and women's health magazines he was holding, deciding it would be safer if he just looked around the room and didn't speak. He had always hated doctors and anything related to them, but he wanted to be there for Courtney and their unborn baby. Besides it wasn't like Courtney got into this situation by herself.

When their name was called the couple was ushered into one of the rooms with an ultrasound machine in it. Courtney replaced her shirt with a paper one and took a seat on the paper covered table. Duncan grimaced when the smell of antiseptic hit him; he really hated anything related to the medical business.

A few minutes later, which felt like an eternity to Duncan and Courtney, their doctor walked through the door with a bright smile plastered on her face. Dr. Anne McGuire had been Courtney's gynecologist since she was old enough to go to one. She was middle-aged and radiated maternal warmth. She had been with the couple through both miscarriages and had Courtney's extensive medical history on file.

"Hi Courtney it's great to see you again," Dr. McGuire said, pulling her into a hug, she then stuck her hand out to Duncan. "Nice to see you again too Duncan."

She walked over to the ultrasound machine and turned it on.

"Gotta wait for this baby to warm up. Why don't you go on and lie down and get comfortable. Are you nervous?"

"Of course," Courtney admitted, fidgeting with her wedding band; it had become a habit of hers when she was nervous or uncomfortable.

"You have every right to be, so I hope to give the both of you some good news today. Now this'll be cold."

Dr. McGuire rolled a jelly coated appendage of the ultrasound machine around Courtney's bare stomach. For several minutes she hit buttons and played with colors and sounds. It seemed to be taking a long time, putting Courtney and Duncan on edge with fear. A few more seemingly random buttons were hit before Dr. McGuire turned to her patient and her husband, spinning the screen towards them as she went.

"Congratulations, here's the first glimpse of your baby."

The screen showed a small body, no bigger than a plum.

"Oh my God," Courtney whispered, holding Duncan's hand a bit tighter and lacing their fingers together.

"It's our baby," Duncan smiled. "It's so small."

"Well from the looks of it Courtney's about ten weeks along, so it appears you'll be getting a very special Christmas present."

The couple nodded slightly to engrossed with the image on the screen to do much more.

"I can print it out for you, you know?"

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Dr. McGuire chuckled and hit the print button. "So I'm going to need to see you in a couple of weeks for another check-up. Preferably four weeks from today, but three would be fine as well."

"Why can't we hear the heartbeat?" Courtney questioned.

"That's nothing to worry about. There can be a number of reasons why, but I believe it's simply the way the baby is facing right now. So please don't stress about it, you should try to alleviate any stress you can control."

"Okay, if you say so. You are the doctor."

Dr. McGuire handed Duncan the printouts and shut down the machine, while Courtney wiped off the jelly that covered her stomach.

"Hopefully I will see you both then; it's so nice when the father comes too. Congratulations."

With that the doctor left the couple to bask in their joy. Courtney slipped her shirt back on and smiled fondly at Duncan who was gazing at the printouts. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She stood on her tiptoes and placed her head on his shoulder, looking down at the picture with him.

"I just can't believe it," Duncan stated.

"I know it's pretty incredible."

"I have this overwhelming urge to frame this and put it on our wall."

"Yeah, no, you're not doing that, but you can hang it on the fridge if you want."

"Oh I will. Do you know what this means?" Duncan questioned pulling her around so she was in front of him. Courtney shrugged, unsure of where this was going.

"This is proof. Proof of our new life and our new beginning."


	5. Of shopping and heartbeats

By the start of her second trimester, Courtney's pregnancy symptoms had begun to level off. She wasn't throwing up at all hours of the day and night anymore (although, she wished she wasn't throwing up at _all_, but she would take what she could get) and her mood swings weren't nearly as often as they had been.

Her hormones leveling off couldn't have happened any sooner; both Duncan and Courtney's job performance had been decreasing from lack of sleep. Duncan's boss had even gone as far as to threaten firing him if his performance didn't increase. Courtney discovered it was hard to give children music lessons, or help them come to terms with the error of their ways, while she was struggling to stay awake.

It was midmorning on Saturday, almost a month after the first doctors' appointment, and Courtney was sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by color swatches, wallpaper samples, and catalogs filled with baby furniture. Next to her sat a notebook with several detailed columns filled with information ranging from prices of items to store comparisons and baby names.

Courtney's eyes flickered from her blueberry muffin, a recent craving of hers, to Duncan who strolled into the kitchen, eyes still half-closed with sleep and walked straight to the coffee machine. Once he had taken a few sips, he made his way to the chair next to Courtney kissing the top of her head in greeting before sitting down.

"Should I ask what all of this crap is or would it be easier for me to just pretend I don't see anything?"

"I'm just trying to get ideas for the baby's room. You know, narrowing down colors, choosing cute wallpaper, the simple things for now."

Duncan nodded slightly taking another sip from his coffee before quirking an eyebrow.

"Fine, I'll bite. We don't know the sex of the baby yet, how are you 'narrowing down' colors?"

"Well," Courtney consulted her notebook, "I have the obvious colors, pink and blue, but I have gender neutral colors as well, greens, yellows. Right now nothing is definite, I'm just getting ideas."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm gonna get to have some say in this too right?"

"Of course. After all someone is going to have to do all of the work," Courtney said, grinning sweetly.

"Glad to know I'm so useful. You realize we don't have enough space for the baby to have his or her own room, right?"

"Yes we do. We'll just change the guestroom into the baby's room. We rarely get guests that stay over anyway and if we do they can stay on the couch."

"You make a valid point," Duncan agreed, grabbing the notebook quickly.

"You've got a list of baby names too?"

"Feel free to add any."

"When were you gonna let me in on this little gem of a notebook?"

"Sooner rather than later. You've been so busy and stressed out about your job; I didn't want to make it worse."

"Well, I'm gonna start stealing this bad boy and adding things to it."

"You are more than welcome to. I'm excited to see what names you come up with," Courtney stated with a wink.

Duncan chuckled, stood up and walked to the dishwasher to get rid of his mug.

"You're goin' out with Lizzy today right?"

Courtney nodded.

"Where are you going?"

"Actually I'm not sure of the specifics, but we're going maternity clothes shopping. Lizzy wants to get me fashionable maternity wear; she thinks if I'm left to my own devices I'll dress myself poorly."

"Wow, sounds riveting. Enjoy that. You're not even showing yet. How are you gonna know what sizes to get?"

"Educated guessing," Courtney replied, checking her watch. "I'm going to go get ready. You know how Lizzy gets if she has to wait."

"Yeah, the last thing we need is for her to be sitting in the driveway honking the horn and disturbing the neighbors so bad that they call the cops. Again."

* * *

"This one's hot."

"Lizzy, I'm pregnant and I'm going to get fat. I'm not sure looking hot should be one of my main priorities."

In the two years since Duncan and Courtney's wedding Lizzy had become slightly tamer, this was mostly due to her relationship with Courtney's older brother, Kellan. Although both enjoyed a good party, Kellan was more than content to chill out at home and Lizzy had been able to adapt. They had tiptoed around a romance for half of a year before Kellan finally worked up the nerve to ask her out; they had been together ever since and the couple had recently moved into an apartment.

"So, how's my bro?"

"Oh he's fantastic in bed."

"Sweet Lord, that was not what I meant and you know it," Courtney practically shrieked. "Ugh, I need to get a lobotomy now. I don't want to remember that."

"Shut up, beotch! You had to have known that was going to be my answer," Lizzy said, throwing Courtney a short sleeved shirt. "But to truthfully answer your question, he's fine. He's also mega excited about becoming an uncle, he's going to spoil your kid rotten."

"I know. He's already given me a list of toys he 'called' to buy him or her. There are days when I worry about him."

"How've you been feeling though? I mean I'm afraid to call you 'cause I think you're gonna throw up on the phone again. That was so gross and you know I'm a sympathy puker."

"It's not like I could control it, Liz, jeez. But I'm much better now. I've even gone entire days without regurgitating my food."

"Thanks for the visual," Lizzy mumbled.

After tallying up the items in their shopping cart Courtney did some quick mental calculations.

"Lizzy, I didn't bring enough to pay for all of this."

"Don't worry about it. It's on me," Lizzy smiled, pulling out a credit card with Kellan's name on it. "Well, it's on your brother."

* * *

"I made a list," Duncan volunteered the next day as the couple sat waiting in the doctors' office. "While you were out with Lizzy."

"List of what?"

"Baby names I like. And I picked up a couple of baby name books at the library."

"Well aren't you efficient. Am I going to get to see your list?"

"Maybe. If you're good," Duncan mumbled before covering her lips with his.

Dr. McGuire knocked lightly and walked in, ending the couples kiss.

"Awe, aren't you two just the most precious thing? If only my husband was as attentive as you. You know the drill Courtney, lie back on the table."

The visit went much like the first, with random buttons being pushed on the ultrasound machine and emotions running high when Courtney and Duncan got to see their baby again, with the added bonus of a few more added pokes and prods from Dr. McGuire to all different places on Courtney's body to make sure she was healthy too.

"I think I might have a surprise for you two today," Dr. McGuire smiled. "Listen closely."

She tapped some keys on the machine, until the room was filled with a quiet, whooshing sound. The couple looked at the screen again in awe.

"That would be your baby's heartbeat. It's pretty strong for how far along you are."

"This is amazing," Duncan grinned.

"Everything is moving along well. Courtney, you and the baby seem to be doing just fine so far. Keep up the healthy eating as much as you can and if you feel well enough start exercising lightly. Activities like yoga and light weights are good, don't go take up kickboxing or softball, 'kay?"

"I think I can arrange that," Courtney responded as Duncan took the paper towels from her hands and wiped the jelly off of her stomach.

"Great. Remember if you have any questions or concerns feel free to call me here at the office or if you can't reach me here you have my cell."

"Thanks so much Dr. McGuire," Duncan said, shaking her hand.

"Don't mention it; it's my job," she joked. "Well I will see you two in another three or four weeks, whichever works best with your schedules."

Dr. McGuire waved over her shoulder as she left the room. Duncan turned to Courtney immediately, a smile threatening to break his face.

"Did you hear that? Our baby has one strong heart. Maybe he'll be an athlete."

"He?"

"Or she. I'm game for either."

"Well I'm glad you're so excited."

"I live to make you happy."

As the two left the building and headed to their car Courtney turned to Duncan and batted her eyelashes.

"Can we stop and pick up something for dinner?"

"Sure Princess. What did you have in mind?"

"I have been craving anchovy pizza since this morning."

"Oh man, it begins."


	6. Of exercising and blackmail

"Hello again kiddies," Dr. McGuire greeted as she entered the room

Courtney was in her twentieth week, or fifth month, and was now showing. When she first began showing Duncan had become obsessed with touching her stomach, regardless of what she was doing. He seemed to do it mostly while they were sleeping or trying to get to sleep. He would gently rest his hand on her bulging stomach in a protective manner. Courtney never thought Duncan could be so sweet or that he was such a softie deep down.

"How're you feeling Courtney? Still good I hope."

"Mmhmm. No complaints."

"Good to hear. Why don't you go ahead and lie down, I'll try to get you two out of here as quick as I can. I'm sure you have lots of better things to do then be here."

Buttons were pushed, the baby's heartbeat was heard, and everything seemed to be progressing well. The ultrasound machine's screen was facing Dr. McGuire and she was clucking her tongue, making the couple nervous.

"So, today is a big day. Would you like to know the sex of your baby?"

Courtney threw a look at Duncan giving him the okay to divulge their answer.

"Well we've talked about it, a lot, and we've gone over all of the pros and cons and we've decided that we want it to be a surprise."

"Oh, nice choice, it's one that not many people choose anymore, but it's my favorite."

The couple grinned and began to gather all of their belongings.

"Aside from that, everything looks great. Keep up the light exercise and I'll see you in another month."

* * *

"Breathe in, 1, 2, 3. Breathe out 1, 2, 3."

Courtney sat in front of the television carefully following the instructions of the DVD yoga teacher, a bottle of water and light weights were sitting next to her. She had taken Dr. McGuire's advice and began to do light exercising and she had to admit she had never felt better. With her hormones leveled off she was finally getting a decent amount of sleep and with that she got a renewed energy.

Duncan watched her from the kitchen doorway and couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. Courtney had been so cute recently with the whole exercise routine she had devised for herself. Although a former CIT, she was not the most athletically gifted person Duncan had ever laid eyes on and watching her go through the motions just made him laugh.

"Seriously, you just standing there staring at me is really creepy."

"What I can't stare at my wife anymore? Then why are we married?"

"Ha ha. Why don't you come over and try this with me?"

"No."

"It'll be fun," Courtney practically whined.

"No, it won't. It's just gonna make me look stupid."

"Who do you think is going to be judging you? I'm the only one here!"

"Ugh, fine."

Duncan crossed the threshold and took a seat next to Courtney on the floor.

"Are you gonna share your mat with me?"

"You are such a baby sometimes."

Courtney moved off her mat to turn it sideways so that she could share it with her husband.

"So what do I have to do?"

"You just follow the woman on the screen."

"Oh this is gonna be fun. We know how good I am at listening to any kind of authority figure," Duncan grumbled.

The pair went through several minutes of yoga, Courtney concentrating on her breathing, Duncan attempting to look cool while simultaneously struggling to be remotely flexible.

"Who the hell comes up with the names of these moves? Downward dog, cobra; they're so ridiculous."

"They are a little strange, but I've just come to accept them. Or maybe I just ignore them," Courtney explained. "Oh, this next part combines yoga with Pilates, so can you get the Pilates ball. I've got to go pee real fast."

"Thanks for the update."

Courtney stood up and made her way towards the bedroom. Instead of veering off to the bathroom she went to the dresser and began rummaging through it until she found what she was looking for. She then exited the bedroom and half hid in the hallway waiting for the most opportune moment; she didn't have to wait long.

Duncan was sitting next to the Pilates ball intently watching the television. He hesitantly stood up and sat on the ball, like the woman on the DVD. Following the instructions, he grabbed the handles and began to pull them in different directions. Up towards the ceiling, out in front of his chest, out to the sides, and repeat.

He then let go of the handles and lay on his stomach on the ball. He rolled forward so that he was balancing on the ball with his feet and supporting the rest of his body with his hands on the floor. He looked like he was doing some messed up pushup.

Courtney took the opportunity to come out of hiding and made her way towards him. Before Duncan could even process that she was next to him, Courtney had put her plan into action and snapped several pictures. The flash caused him to falter and then collapse on the floor, the Pilates ball slipping out from under him.

"Ah, what the hell Court?"

"I'm sorry I just couldn't resist," Courtney cackled.

Duncan stood up and brushed himself off, stalking over to her.

"Give me the camera," Duncan demanded, adding a menacing edge to his voice.

"Not on your life," Courtney whispered as he got close enough to wrap his arms around her.

"Can we at least agree to not show those pictures to anyone?"

"Sure, but they are great for blackmail. Keep these pictures in mind when you want to do something stupid."

Duncan groaned.

"Looks like I've got you locked up for the rest of your life," Courtney joked.

"Well there's no one else I'd rather spend a life sentence with."

"Awe, baby, you know just what a girl wants to hear."


	7. Of rooms and thoughtful surprises

"Michael?"

"Too average."

"Brian?"

"Not average enough."

"Duncan that doesn't even make sense, how can a name be not average enough?"

"Baby, you want a name to be unique, but not too unique for fear of your kid being ostracized."

"Ugh, fine whatever; let's go through some girls names. You start this time."

The couple was preparing the baby's room. Duncan had already removed the furniture in the guestroom, putting it in its new home, the basement. He had painted the room a sunny yellow, per Courtney's request for gender neutral, and had put up wallpaper of farm animals, the theme they had chosen for the room. Currently Duncan was trying to put together the crib as Courtney explained the instructions, filling in the gaps with conversation about baby names.

"Veronica? We can call her Roni for short."

"Um, how about not."

"Melissa? Shortened to Lissa."

"Are you serious? Why do all of your names have such annoying nicknames?"

"Maybe we should just cool it with the names for now," Duncan sighed. "Hand me the screwdriver."

"Here and no, we can't have our baby nameless."

"Well, we're gonna name the baby eventually, but we've got time Courtney and we obviously aren't gonna settle on name today."

Duncan stood up and began packing up the tools and gathering the packing material the crib had come in. Once finished, he moved the crib to one of the corners in the room where there was already a changing table setup. On the other side of the room was a small dresser, but the room still looked a bit bare.

"Oh it looks so good," Courtney gushed, handing Duncan a mobile with different farm animals on it. "Could you hang this up please?"

"Sure Princess."

Before Duncan was able to hang it a piercing ring interrupted him. Checking the screen on his cell phone he looked at Courtney apologetically.

"I've gotta take this, I'll be right back." He practically ran out of the room.

Several minutes later Duncan reappeared, fuming. He grabbed the mobile, not even acknowledging Courtney, and hung it up, turning the knob quickly to make sure it spun.

"So," Courtney began, "who was on the phone?"

"Mark Fay." His answer was efficient and to the point. He was definitely angry.

"Why was your boss calling you? You weren't supposed to go into work today were you?"

"No, but apparently they need me to go into tomorrow."

"But tomorrow's Sunday, you never work on Sunday's."

Duncan sighed and leaned against the wall, obnoxiously popping the bubble wrap he had swiped from the crib packaging.

"We've been having a problem with one of the boys under my counsel," he explained.

"What kind of problems?" Courtney questioned an eyebrow quirked.

"The behavioral kind," Duncan said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "This kid is absolutely unruly, the worst I've ever had to deal with."

"What's his name?"

"Billy Williams."

"His name is William Williams?" Courtney tried not to giggle.

"No it's just Billy and God help you if you call him William."

"Baby, he can't be that bad. He's just a teenager."

"No, he's a psycho. This is his fifth time in juvie and he's beaten up three of his roommates. I've never met a kid like this; I don't even know how to begin to help him."

"Awe, Duncan, is that why you have to go in tomorrow, because this Billy kid is so insane?"

"Yeah, all the counselors are meeting and we're gonna discuss what to do because if we don't figure something out we're gonna have to transfer him to another facility."

"Well sweetheart I'm sure you'll figure someth—oh, oh," Courtney stopped suddenly clutching her stomach.

"Princess?" Duncan was next to her in a heartbeat cautiously wrapping an arm around her. "You okay?"

Courtney hesitated a minute before responding.

"Yeah I'm fine. I think, I think the baby just kicked."

"Can I feel?"

Courtney took his hand and placed it on the spot where she had felt the kick. They both held their breath while they waited for the next one. Seconds, which felt like hours, passed before Duncan felt anything, but when he did his eyes lit up. He released Courtney briefly before pulling her into a kiss.

"That's amazing. God, I love you so much."

"I love you too."

"I have a surprise for you Princess."

Duncan left the room and Courtney heard a door open and footsteps going down into the basement. There were some crashes which prompted her to shout "Are you okay?" and "Do you need help?" only to be answered with "I'm fine!"

Courtney heard Duncan returning up the stairs dragging something behind him, or maybe pushing something in front of him, which sounded quite heavy.

"Close your eyes!"

Courtney did as she was told, smirking at the obvious problems she could hear Duncan was having with whatever it was he was dealing with. He set his surprise up on the side of the room that only had a dresser, evening out and effectively pulling the room together; he just hoped Courtney would like it.

"Okay, open them."

"Oh Duncan, it's beautiful."

The rocking chair was gorgeous. It was very large and made of oak. It must've cost him a fortune, but it was stunning. Duncan had known that Courtney wanted a rocking chair, but knew she would never buy one herself because it was "a waste of money" and she could "just sit on the couch." He had seen it marked off in one of her baby catalogs and was just excited he was able to get it for her without her figuring it out; it wasn't everyday he could pull one over on her.

Courtney walked over to it and picked up the stuffed cow that sat in it. She gently sat in the rocking chair, holding the stuffed animal and slowly began to rock back and forth methodically.

"Thank you honey."

Duncan pulled her into a sweet, chaste kiss.

"Nothing but the best for my Princess."

**A/N: Short, I know, but I felt like the two needed some bonding time...and time to discuss work problems! Thanks to all of my reviewers so far, do you guys have any idea how awesome you are? :D**


	8. Of showers and blowfish

Courtney stood in front of the bathroom mirror, intently studying her now plump figure; she missed her old slim frame. Her new jeans, with the added bonus of an elastic waist, weren't anything special, and her long sleeved sweater, which flared out at the stomach, was gray with intricate beading around the neckline.

"Court, I need to use the bathroom too."

"I'm not stopping you am I?"

Duncan entered the bathroom and walked to the sink. He readied his toothbrush as he gave Courtney a once over.

"You look hot."

"I do not look hot. You can't look hot when you're the size of a whale," Courtney replied, angrily running a brush through her hair.

"You don't look like a whale, you're glowing. What's the occasion for all of the hotness?"

"I'm going to Lizzy and Kellan's for a late lunch, early dinner thing with my old bridal party."

"When are you gonna be home," Duncan questioned after spitting in the sink.

"I don't know exactly. Why?"

"Well it's now a little after noon and I have a meeting at two. So I figured I could bring home something to eat. You know how you like to have late night snacks."

"Oh yes, let's give the fatty more food."

"For the last time you're not fat, you're pregnant, there's a difference."

Kissing her quickly Duncan turned to leave.

"Promise me you'll try to have fun with the girls?"

"Whatever."

* * *

Lizzy and Kellan's apartment was one of the most upscale buildings Courtney had ever seen and she had seen many in her privileged life. The studio apartment was a little smaller than Courtney and Duncan's house with each apartment taking up its' own floor. The inside was completely modern, with stainless steel appliances, eccentric colors, furniture, and light fixtures. It suited its' two inhabitants well.

As Courtney made her way up the walkway she noticed many cars parked in front of several houses lining the street. Immediately she figured someone was getting ready for a major party; and then she thought better of it and froze. It would be just like Lizzy to go behind her back to throw her a party or a more probable baby shower.

She mentally groaned. Her unpleasant hormones had begun to slowly creep back now that she was in the beginning of her third trimester. This fact made her a fairly unpopular person to be around. Courtney wasn't entirely sure she could fake through several hours of happiness with Lizzy constantly shoving fattening foods, which she couldn't turn down anymore, at her.

Sighing heavily, Courtney plastered a smile on her face and rang the doorbell. When the door didn't open immediately like it usually did (Lizzy was usually on top of the door, she was so impatient) Courtney's fear of _something_ going on was confirmed. The door was finally opened revealing not Lizzy or one of the girls, but her brother Kellan.

"Baby sister, I've missed you!" Carefully, Kellan pulled Courtney into a hug.

"Oh big brother I've missed you too!"

Placing his hand on her stomach and leaning in close he questioned, "And how is my nephew or niece doing today?"

"He or she has been doing gymnastics all day."

Ushering his sister inside Kellan responded, "Or maybe he's practicing his mad hockey skills so he can take after his Uncle Kellan."

"Oh I'm so sure."

"Please, you could be harboring the next Wayne Gretzky. You can't tell me that it hasn't crossed your mind?"

"Of course, when Duncan and I decided we wanted to have a baby it was solely so we could exploit its' natural talents," Courtney said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Awe, you're going to be a great mom," he joked. "The girls are in the living room, have fun!"

"We'll see," Courtney mumbled.

She braced herself as she turned the corner and heard someone whisper a harsh "Shhh!" She walked into the room and was fully prepared when she was met with shouts of "Surprise!" Courtney did her best to truly act shocked and she believed she did a good job.

"Oh my God this is so awesome! Thanks guys!"

It was set up much in the same way her bridal shower had been two years prior, but with Lizzy in charge Courtney knew it was going to be completely laidback and for that she was grateful. All of her bridal party was in attendance, Lizzy, obviously, Katherine, and Maureen and her friend the baker Sherry, as well as all of her friends from _TDI_. Over the past two years the former cast mates had been able to forge new friendships and strengthen old ones. The entire cast was more united now than when they had been in teams on the show during their youth and the irony was not lost on them now.

As the day progressed Courtney's mood brightened considerably. By definition baby showers aren't the most fun gatherings in the world, but she was happy to be able to spend some time with her friends instead of at the doctors.

After eating and opening baby presents (Courtney mostly received adorable baby clothes and bath items), Beth stood up clutching her purse and smiling.

"I have another surprise, but it's not just for Courtney. We're all going to be able to enjoy this."

Beth walked over to Lizzy's entertainment center, turned on the television and pulled out a DVD. After putting it in the player she giggled and practically skipped back to her seat between Lindsay and Heather, the latter of which she had been able to reconcile with. The screen flashed for a minute before Chris MacLean appeared introducing a new reality television show and, as Maureen and Katherine began to laugh, the women of _TDI_ either gasped or groaned.

No cast member owned the episodes of TDI; they had never been sold in stores and the producers never gave them copies for fear of them ending up on the Internet for download, which would've made them lose money.

"I can't believe it," Courtney laughed. "How did you find this?"

"I have my ways," Beth said cryptically. "I thought it'd be funny to relive it all."

"All? You have every episode," Heather practically shouted.

"Oh this is going to be awesome," LeShawna grinned.

They didn't get to watch every episode (to watch every one they'd need at least twenty-four hours), so they did highlights of each episode, but most of the remarks from the viewers were apologies. Bridgette apologized to Courtney for breaking her violin, Katie and Sadie apologized to each other for their first fight, and Heather apologized to everyone for…everything.

"Oh that was fantastic," Gwen said hours later wiping tears from her eyes as Beth removed the DVD. "I haven't laughed so hard in ages."

"I know right," Lindsay agreed. "I forgot how hot I looked with my hair long."

"Honestly I don't remember Chris being as devious as he was shown," Eva said.

"Oh he was more devious," Izzy interrupted. "He was always all 'Grr I'm going to destroy you campers' and we were like 'Ahh, no you're not' and he was all 'I was sent here to destroy you' and we were all 'We will prevail.'"

"Yeah okay crazy girl," Heather mumbled under her breath which only Gwen heard.

"You can say that again."

Heather turned to Gwen and said, "Listen I know I've apologized for this already, but, again, I'm really sorry for the whole diary thing. I don't know how you didn't kill me."

"Well, I'm not gonna lie, it took a lot of restraint."

"I bet," Heather laughed.

"But it's all water under the bridge now, so don't worry about it."

"Thanks Gwen."

"Hey," Courtney shouted. "Sorry to break up the little love fest in the corner, but the rest of the room was discussing Owen's party after he won."

"Oh man it was off the hook," LeShawna exclaimed.

"Oh my gosh, do you guys remember when Harold and Chef Hatchet had that beat boxing contest," Sadie questioned.

"Yes," Katie agreed with her bfffl. "Harold totally schooled him!"

"My man's the best," LeShawna bragged. "But what I remember the most is how Trent broke his leg."

"It was an accident," Lindsay screamed.

"Oh now I've got to know what happened," Maureen stated.

"Gwen," Bridgette giggled. "How 'bout you take this one."

"Fine," she huffed. "From what I understand, and Linds feel free to interject if I'm wrong, but Lindsay was in the food pantry room in Owen's kitchen getting a bottle of ketchup."

Lindsay nodded in agreement, so Gwen continued.

"And Trent walked into the pantry for more paper plates and she got startled and turned too quickly and hit the low light bulb breaking it and plunging them into darkness because the door had swung shut behind him on accident."

Again Lindsay nodded.

"Well Lindsay thought she was going to be attacked by, I don't even know, so she tackled him into the shelves and started beating him with the ketchup bottle."

"Oh my God," Katherine shouted, trying to rein in her snorting laughter after Maureen smacked her arm lightly.

"Continue," Maureen giggled.

"That's pretty much it," Gwen said. "If I remember correctly Bridgette and Geoff were looking for a private place to make out and found Lindsay and Trent in the pantry. He was all covered in ketchup and his leg was bent back in a weird way from how he fell after the tackle."

"That is incredible," Lizzy laughed. "Who knew nice, good guy Trent could be thought of as an assailant."

"The best part is that it wasn't the first time Lindsay had severely injured him," Courtney said, taking a bite out of her cupcake.

"What do you mean," Sherry questioned, passing out more of her made from scratch chocolate cupcakes.

"Well," Bridgette jumped in to explain, "we did this challenge on the show where we had to cook this Japanese poisonous blowfish dish for our partner and hope you didn't poison them. Let's just say Trent was Lindsay's partner and he ended up in the infirmary hooked up to all these IV's."

The whole group laughed at the story as Lindsay turned beat red and tried to defend herself.

"Shut up it's not like I wanted to hurt him. I really tried to cut that fish up good and he knows I'm still really sorry."

"Wanna know the kicker," Gwen questioned. "Every birthday of Lindsay's that passes, Trent buys her a baby blowfish!"

"No way," Izzy giggled.

"How many do you have then?" Eva questioned.

"Um, eleven," Lindsay responded. "Well Trent's given me eleven, but some of them have babies, so in total I have sixteen."

"Where do you keep them all?" Maureen questioned in awe.

"In a tank, duh."

"Yeah, we understand that," Katherine said. "But it has got to be a big tank. Where is it in your house?"

"Oh, it's in my room. They keep me company when Tyler doesn't stay over."

"That's almost sweet," Courtney muttered.

"You know," Lindsay said, turning towards Gwen, "I didn't think I'd get a fishy this year because he was on tour."

"Please," Gwen snorted. "It was all he talked about for like a week. Where we would be able to find a blowfish was a constant topic of conversation."

"Awe, yay!"

The group continued to chat for an hour and a half until Kellan interrupted the party.

"Hello ladies. I think it's time to pack up the party. I think your husband might be missing you."

"Ugh, he's probably happy to get rid of me for a couple of hours."

"Couple of hours" Kellan said incredulously. "Try ten. You've been here for like ever. Seriously, Duncan's probably wondering where the hell you've been all day."

"Please, he knows I was here and honestly where else would I go six months pregnant?"

"True, true."

"Say your good-byes, girls."

The women said good-bye and Courtney thanked them for the great party, the trip down memory lane, and for getting her out of her sour mood, as Kellan loaded up the baby gifts into Courtney's car. Beth made sure to give Courtney a copy of the _TDI_ DVD and promised the rest of the girls that they would receive their own copies in the mail.

After stealing her away from the clingy women, he escorted her to the car.

"Drive carefully Court and call me when you get home. You know—"

"Yes, I know how you worry. You're so funny when you get all protective of me."

"What can I say, I'm the next Mike Myers," he joked. "Seriously though, I know D's been working late, so if you need anything do not hesitate to call."

"Okay. Thanks big bro."

"Anytime little sis."


	9. Of organizing and phone calls

"So what are you planning on doing today?"

"Well because you're going to be at work all day and I'll be all alone, I was going to call up my favorite escort and go wild."

"Oh sounds hot, I might just have to stay home and watch then."

"You are such an ogre," Courtney complained, lightly smacking his arm. "Anyway I was just going to organize the baby's room, put on some final touches."

At Duncan's penetrating gaze she added, "Nothing strenuous, just putting away all of the baby clothes I got and organizing the bath stuff into the basket LeShawna gave me."

"I see. We definitely got enough crap from your baby shower," Duncan began, "but I have some other things you can organize."

He disappeared to one of the hall closets and came back with a large trash bag and handed it to her.

"You're like Santa, jeez."

She opened the bag and gasped, pulling out a stuffed animal of a pig. The whole bag was filled with different farm animal stuffed animals to go with the theme of the baby's room.

"How did you find all of these?"

"Every time I've gone to any store in the past month or two I've looked for farm animals and if the store had one I'd buy it," Duncan explained. "After I had ten I figured I'd just collect a bunch and give them to you in one shot."

"Awe, I love them," Courtney gushed hugging him. "I'm excited to set them up."

"Good, I'm glad you're happy. So I'm going to leave on this good note," he captured her lips in a kiss and then planted one on her forehead.

"What time should I expect you tonight?"

"Like, six thirty-ish."

"Oh good, well have a good day at work honey. Good luck with that Billy Williams."

"Thanks. Billy has gotten better in the past week; I'm just glad we've finally made some headway."

"Well if you're happy then I'm happy."

"See ya soon Princess."

* * *

Courtney sat on the couch and slowly took a sip from her bottle of water. Unfortunately this had been the majority of her day and sadly the day had started out with such promise. From all of the parenting books she had been reading since discovering she was pregnant, she had learned that when she entered her third trimester all of the horrible pregnancy symptoms from the first one would come back.

Due to the fact that she had survived them the first time she assumed that this time would be a piece of cake; she was mistaken, big time. The fatigue had come back ten times worse than it had been originally. The only way she could counteract the fits of tiredness, and usually it only made her feel marginally better, was to take several naps throughout the day (either way she usually couldn't sleep through the night anymore).

She had to pee like every three minutes because the baby was constantly resting on or kicking her bladder. This fact made it near impossible to go out to dinner or hangout at length with friends or family. To make matters worse a symptom had arose that hadn't been there in her first trimester, she now quite frequently got heartburn and she hated it with a burning passion.

Courtney was happy she was in her seventh month and only had to deal with all of the unpleasantness for a couple more months.

If the symptoms weren't enough to make her not want to do anything, anytime she got deep into a project the phone would ring or the computer would say "You've got mail" and she'd have to stop. Of course, she had also taken some time out of her projects to eat; after all she was eating for two.

Deciding that her break had lasted long enough, she went back to the former guestroom to organize the baby clothes and all of the stuffed animals. She felt at least a little accomplished because she had already organized all the baby bath stuff in the great, handy, and portable basket LeShawna (and technically Harold) had given her. It was a really cute and practical gift; the basket was medium sized, with many different compartments labeled for soap, lotion, baby powder, wash cloths, and, of course, a spot for a rubber ducky.

Over an hour later Courtney had organized the baby clothes in the dresser and arranged and rearranged the stuffed animals. It wasn't that she hadn't been happy with her original arrangement; it was that it was going on seven thirty and Duncan wasn't home yet. It wasn't unusual for him to be forced to stay late, but when that happened he always called. She had called his cell phone several times and it had gone straight to voicemail. Courtney had bargained with herself that if he wasn't home, or if she hadn't heard from him by eight, she would start harassing the juvenile detention facility he worked at with constant phone calls.

In order to calm her nerves she went back to rearranging the farm animals on the rocking chair and quietly began to sing. When she got scared or nervous as a child she would sing Disney songs and they always seemed to make her feel better and make her problems disappear for awhile.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm, hm, hm, hm…._tell me Princess now when did you last let your heart decide? I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over sideways and under on a magic carpet ride, a whole new world_," Courtney merrily sung.

Her singing was cutoff with the shrill ring of the kitchen telephone; she waddled to go and answer it.

"Hello."

"Mrs. Evers?"

Courtney was immediately put on edge. "Yes."

"This is Mark Fay, Duncan's boss."

"Oh, okay. Is everything all right?"

"There's been an incident."

Courtney's blood froze and her heart seemed to stop altogether.

"What?"

"Duncan's on his way to the hospital as we speak. He was stabbed."


	10. Of injuries and tears

Courtney couldn't remember how she got to the hospital. She was half-conscious of being engulfed in a warm embrace and there was a comforting hand rubbing the top of her thigh. Looking through bleary eyes she realized Duncan's older brother David to be the warm embrace and his younger cousin Maureen the comforting hand. Slowly, the events of the last forty minutes came back to her.

After getting the phone call about Duncan's incident, Courtney had called David and Katherine, who had Maureen over for dinner, and they insisted on taking her to the hospital, for her own safety and for moral support.

When they arrived, Duncan's boss, Mark Fay, was there to greet them and he explained the events to Courtney before the doctor found them and rendered his diagnosis.

"We had just finished our weekly evaluation of Billy Williams and the guards were holding him back while Duncan unlocked the door. One of the guards left while the other one pushed Billy towards the door, but he had left his hat on the table and asked to retrieve it," Mark explained. "He had been progressing so well…"

"Go on please."

"He went and got his hat, but somehow pocketed a pen as well. Duncan was holding the door open at this point and as Billy walked by he lunged at him. Just football tackled him to the ground, I lost count how many times he stabbed him with that pen."

Noticing Courtney's obvious distress over his story, Mark awkwardly offered her comfort.

"There, there, it'll be okay. Look the doctor's coming this way, with good news I'm sure."

The ER doctor walked over to the small group, looking questioningly between Courtney and Maureen.

"I'm his wife," Courtney practically screamed. "Tell me about my husband, please!"

Taking her hand, the doctor led Courtney to a chair to be seated, fearing for her in her emotionally fragile state.

"Mrs. Evers," the doctor began, sitting next to her so they were eyelevel, "ultimately your husband will be fine, none of his wounds are considered fatal."

Courtney let out an audible breath.

"But his injuries will take some time to heal. The pen broke through skin six times. The wounds you'll have to pay close attention to are the two in his chest, the one on his left shoulder up by his neck, and the one that went almost entirely through his right hand."

Courtney attempted to listen, but the thought of Duncan in all of that pain made her stomach turn; and not in the way it had been the past several months. Faintly, she heard David tell Maureen, "Pens aren't meant to break through skin. Do you know how much force it must've taken this kid to hurt him?"

"As long as no complications arise tonight or tomorrow morning Duncan will be able to go home tomorrow afternoon," the doctor continued. "I'm assuming you'd like to see him?"

"Can I?"

"Of course, Mrs. Evers. A nurse will be in in a little bit and she'll explain how to clean and dress his wounds."

"Thank you," Courtney said to the doctor and shakily stood up and made her way to the room he had pointed out to her that Duncan was in.

She quietly walked into the room alone, David and Maureen thought she should have some time with _just_ Duncan. Whatever Courtney had expected was not what she was met with when she entered his room. Duncan was in a hospital gown so all she could see of his injuries were what she assumed were two stabs on his right forearm that were wrapped in gauze. His eyes were closed, so Courtney walked quietly to his bedside and ran a hand over the IVs attached to the top of his hand.

He looked so pale and was so cold to the touch. He looked like death had warmed over.

Courtney moved to wipe away the tears when Duncan spoke, his voice gruff from screaming.

"Please don't cry Princess, you know how I hate to see you cry."

"Oh God!"

Courtney threw herself on Duncan, careful to avoid the IVs and the oxygen tubes. The tears she had tried to get rid of came back full force and she struggled to control herself. She was babbling incoherently and struggling to catch her breath.

"When I got the phone call…I thought you were…and then you were laying here….and so pale and cold….Oh God!"

"Come on Princess, you know it would take more than a pen to take me out and away from you."

"I was so scared."

"There's no need to be scared now baby, everything's okay now," Duncan whispered, kissing her lightly.

There was a gentle knock on the door, followed by David sticking his head in and then entering with Maureen.

"Hey little bro, how're you feeling?"

"Like a million bucks."

"Good to hear. The doctor said that as long as there are no complications you can go home tomorrow," Maureen explained after kissing his cheek.

"Thank God. I haven't even been conscious most of the time I've been here and I already hate the hospital."

Maureen looked quizzically at Courtney who was busily arranging chairs and an extra blanket next to Duncan's bed.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm setting up a bed."

Duncan, David, and Maureen all glared.

"I'm not leaving you alone tonight."

"You're right," David agreed. "Duncan shouldn't be left alone tonight, which is why I'm going to stay with him and Katherine and I will bring him home tomorrow. Maureen's bringing you home tonight and staying with you. Don't bother to fight me on it we've already decided."

"Yeah, so say your good nights and we're going to take you home." Maureen was very careful not to say "say your good-byes."

Duncan reached his hand out as far as the IVs let him and was just able to brush his fingers on Courtney's arm. She turned slightly and walked to him, lacing their fingers together.

"Go home and get some sleep baby. I'm fine now."

"I know, I just worry."

"Well don't. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Okay."

The two kissed each other good night with a passion only a couple faced with a possible loss can.

* * *

After the nurse explained how Courtney would help Duncan's wounds heal (actually writing down the steps) Maureen took Courtney home. She made sure Courtney had something to eat and was well hydrated before forcing her to go to bed.

"If you need anything I'll be out on the couch, so just holler."

"Thanks Maureen, but you staying isn't necessary. You can go home if you like."

"No way Court, I promised David and Duncan I'd stay with you and I'm going to."

Later that night as Maureen tossed and turned on the couch she had to fight the urge to go and soothe Courtney as she cried herself to sleep.

**A/N: So, wow. Got a crazy amount of feedback on the last chapter...thanks! Keep up! **


	11. Of arguments and pain

"What do you want me to do?"

"I _want_ you to sit down. What part of that don't you understand Courtney? You're gonna get yourself sick."

"Really Duncan, you're just blowing this way out of proportion, just like you do with everything else."

"I can take care of myself, I don't need you hovering."

"Hovering? You think _this_ is hovering? Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," Courtney promised. "Why don't you try to rotate your neck?"

Duncan's casual stare turned into an icy glare as Courtney smiled smugly.

"That's what I thought."

It had been five days since Duncan had been released from the hospital and ordered to "take it easy." Five excruciatingly long and miserable days. Courtney's nurturing instincts had kicked into hyper drive and she wouldn't let Duncan out of her sight for longer than a couple of seconds. Duncan insisted on wrapping his own injuries, no matter how hard it was or how much it hurt, and Courtney begrudgingly allowed him to, but only after she cleaned them and applied medication.

Over the five days since he was put in her care Duncan and Courtney had been at each others throats. Courtney's constant attention was driving him insane; he couldn't even go to the bathroom without her knocking on the door to make sure he was okay. On the flipside, Duncan couldn't seem to get Courtney to see his side of the argument: that all of her fussing over him would exhaust her and stress her out, thus possibly injuring her or the baby or both.

It turned out he was correct and Courtney had been battling what they hoped was a very bad cold that she just couldn't seem to shake. She had had it for at least a week, with no signs of getting better. She was worried, stressed, and beyond exhaustion.

The situation only brought out and showcased the stubbornness of both parties.

The juvenile detention center where Duncan worked hoped to get the disturbed, angry boy who had assaulted him, Billy Williams, tried as an adult and sent to prison where he could hopefully be straightened out. They had a strong case to present to court because the entire incident had been caught on one of the facility's many surveillance cameras. All the company had asked Duncan to do was to sign an explanation of the event to bring to court; if they played their cards right he wouldn't even have to appear in the courtroom, let alone testify. The best part of the whole terrible ordeal was that, thanks to the injuries he sustained, Duncan received one month off with pay.

Hours later, after the couple had eaten dinner, they sat on the couch trying to indulge in the mindless activity of watching television and still trying to wind down and cool off from their prior little argument.

"Have you heard anything else about the devil?"

"His name is Billy," Duncan sighed. "And no."

"I refuse to call him by a human name when he is so obviously devoid of the things that make you a human, like self-preservation, anger management, the proper emotional, physical, and mental responses to situations, and, of course, empathy for the wrongs you have done to others," Courtney ranted.

"Ugh, just stop."

Courtney looked at him, stunned.

"What do you mean?"

"Just stop bashing this kid you don't even know." Duncan put special emphasis on the word 'kid.'

"Stop bashing? He could've killed you, Duncan. At this point how can you even think of forgiving the little ingrate?"

"I didn't say I forgive him."

"Well that's what it sounded like to me."

"Were you not listening to a word I just said? Stop."

Put-off by his attitude and, although she would never admit it, hurt by his words, Courtney silently turned to the television. The two watched television in an angry silence for the span of at least two shows, until Duncan broke the unnerving quiet, his voice barely above a whisper.

"The kid made a mistake. Obviously a huge one, but still; he's going to pay for it and I just hope he's strong enough to recover and become a productive member of society."

"Why are you defending this kid?"

Sighing, he responded, "Because I could've been that kid. I could've been that kid _so_ easily."

Silence descended on them again because Courtney, for once, didn't know what to say. Eventually, Duncan groaned and gently rubbed his neck unconsciously.

"Do you need more pain killers?"

"I'm fine, can we just watch T.V?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

The silence engulfed them and soon became deafening and too much for Courtney to handle. Slowly, she stood up from the couch and wiped invisible lint off of her clothing.

"Well it's certainly been a fun night," she began sarcastically, "and I hate to tear myself away from one of the most riveting conversations I've ever had in my life, but I just can't stand all of this excitement. I'm going to bed."

"Enjoy. Get some sleep; it might do you some good. You look like hell, this cold knocked you on your ass."

Huffing, Courtney waddled to the hall bathroom to get ready for bed and slammed the door shut behind her.

It was several minutes later that Duncan thought he heard a thud against the wooden bathroom door, but he ignored it when he heard the toilet flush seconds after. He didn't have to wait long before the nagging feeling in the back of his mind was confirmed.

"Duncan."

Courtney's voice was muffled through the door, but he could hear the controlled note of panic in it. Without hesitation he bolted from the couch and was standing in the bathroom in no time. He made a quick sweep of the room with his eyes, but was unsure of what he was seeing and how he was supposed to react.

There was nothing amiss with the bathroom itself except for the large puddle of, what he originally thought was water underneath Courtney, who was leaning heavily on the sink with a hand wrapped protectively around her stomach.

"Court—"

"I think my water just broke."

"What? But you can't have the baby now, you're only seven months." The anxiety in Duncan's voice was clear.

"Well it's not my choice, Duncan. Ugh, ow."

"What do we do?"

"Hospital," Courtney said through clenched teeth.

"Ambulance or car?"

"Ambu—oh, ow, ow. Car; it's faster."

Their petty fight now completely forgotten, the two quickly grabbed Courtney's overnight bag, just incase the hospital couldn't stop the impending early labor.

**A/N: Over 100 reviews! *does happy dance* Thanks so much you guys! Again, you rock!**


	12. Of decisions and uncertainty

"How're you feeling?"

"Not good."

"Well hopefully time is on our side, we got here quickly."

"Dr. McGuire should be back soon with some news. She's been gone for so long."

"Be patient."

The couple had arrived at the hospital at what Courtney believed must've been record speed. An ER doctor did a quick examination before deeming her okay to be checked into a room. Almost immediately after being checked into a room, Dr. McGuire entered. She hooked Courtney up to IVs and drew some blood to run some quick tests to figure out what her mystery illness was. Dr. McGuire had taken one look at Courtney and her utter exhaustion and knew she didn't have a cold. She entered the room devoid of her usually sunny disposition.

"Courtney. Duncan. I have some bad news," she turned to Courtney. "You don't have a cold, although that's probably how it started off, you have the flu. You obviously haven't been resting properly which has led to your exhaustion and you mentioned you've been extremely stressed recently. The exhaustion has made it completely impossible for your body, for your immune system, to fight it off."

Dr. McGuire paused as she looked at the confused couple in front of her. They obviously were scared and had no idea where this was leading.

"So keeping in mind your near lack of immunity, total exhaustion, and illness, I don't want to risk you trying to deliver the baby naturally."

"Wait," Courtney interrupted. "I have to have my baby tonight? I'm only seven months. An early seven months at that."

"I'm sorry Courtney."

"So where do we go from here?" Duncan questioned solemnly.

"Well, because you are sick there is a very high possibility your baby is sick too."

Courtney and Duncan audibly gasped.

"Keeping in mind your problems and the anticipated problems of having a sick, premature baby, I've ordered an emergency C-section. We're going to take you in to surgery in about ten minutes, okay?"

Courtney nodded, tears shining in her eyes.

"Can I go in with her?"

Dr. McGuire smiled at Duncan before responding, "Of course. I figured you'd want to, so we have scrubs set up for you before you enter the operating room. I'll be back in bit."

Once she left the room, Courtney let out a choked sob that she had been holding back.

"Court, don't cry. This is all going to pass and we'll have a beautiful baby, okay?"

"But you don't know that. You heard her; it's very likely our baby is sick on top of being premature. I've read the statistics that's not good at all. And it's entirely my fault again. I'm so sorry, so sorry."

"No, don't apologize because you have nothing to be sorry for," Duncan encouraged, holding her face between his hands and wiping her tears away. "Things like this happen and you can't do anything, you just have to accept it and pray."

Courtney nodded half-heartedly.

"Baby, it's our time. Everything will be fine."

"Duncan," Courtney whispered, looking like a lost little girl, "I'm so scared."

"Of what, honey?"

"Everything. The unknown, the possibility of loosing our baby, the surgery…you have to be prepared to make a decision, baby."

"What are you talking about?" He knew exactly what she was insinuating, but didn't want to think about it.

"If something were to go wrong the surgeon or Dr. McGuire is going to ask you," she took a shaky breath, "who you want to save. I want you to pick the baby."

"No. I refuse to live without you."

"Duncan please!"

"No, God forbid something happens to the baby, Courtney we'll try again or adopt. We'll figure something out, but I am not losing you."

"Duncan, I don't know if I can handle another…"

"Don't even think like that. Stay positive."

The door opened then, revealing Dr. McGuire.

"We're ready for you Courtney."

They began to wheel Courtney out and down the hall, Duncan's hand clutching hers like a lifeline. When they reached the door Duncan leaned down and kissed her, trying to put everything he felt for her and everything he had left unsaid into it.

"Stay strong. I'm gonna be with you the whole time and when you wake up we're gonna have a beautiful baby."

"Okay honey. Always remember no matter what, I love you, Ogre."

Duncan smiled through his tears. "I love you too my Princess."

He was able to kiss her one last time before they wheeled her into the operating room. The first set of double doors hadn't even closed before Duncan ran in to put on his scrubs.

* * *

Hours later, the Evers were blessed with a beautiful, albeit very sick, baby girl. She was fourteen inches and weighed just two pounds and one ounce. Her home would be an incubator and the doctor's, and Duncan and Courtney, were praying that she survived the night.

The little girl was very ill with most of her problems stemming from the heart. She had a murmur and three holes in her heart, along with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and a hernia.

It hurt Courtney, who was still dazed from the surgery, and Duncan that neither of them could hold their new baby, that she had to be trapped in the incubator in an effort to keep her alive. They were permitted to go to the neonatal wing of the hospital to visit, but the most they could do was stick a finger through a small slot on the incubator and have their baby girl ever so weakly hold their finger.

They prayed hard for their baby girl to survive and tried to send her their love.

1:36 a.m. on November 23 would be a moment in time Duncan and Courtney would forever have engrained in their memories. It was the day they became parents to their amazing, beautiful daughter, Ella Rose Evers.

**A/N: Fun Fact about me, all of the health problems, weight, size, etc. of Court and Duncan's new baby were what I was born with, so yes they are all real problems. Stay tuned for more and keep up the reviews!**


	13. Of reconciliations and bonding

It had been four months since Ella had been born and she had yet to leave the hospital, but everyday she grew a little stronger, a little healthier. The hospital staff had been genuinely surprised that she had survived the night and everyday since. They proudly told the cautious parents that their daughter was a fighter.

A day didn't pass when either Duncan or Courtney, usually both, didn't not come to visit it their baby. Ella had her own private room, courtesy of her grandparents: Scott and Cindy Powell. A few days after Ella's birth, as Courtney lay in her hospital gown feeling sick and disgusting, the hospital phone that sat next to her bed on a makeshift nightstand rang. Normally she would've had Duncan answer it, but he had made a quick run to McDonald's because he couldn't stand the hospital food and hadn't returned yet.

Courtney had leaned over and grabbed the phone and had slowly brought to her ear.

"Hello."

There was a pause. "Courtney?"

She had thought she would never hear his voice again. Two years prior he had made it perfectly clear that she had been excommunicated from her family when she had married Duncan. Hurtful words had been exchanged from both parties, but Courtney had gotten over it and still kept in touch via e-mail with her parents. Not that they ever responded.

"Daddy?"

"Hello sweetheart. How are you feeling?" Her father's question sounded sincere, but she had been caught by surprise and hadn't known how to answer.

"Excuse me?"

"Your mother and I are just calling to check in on you sweetheart. And our granddaughter of course."

"Um, sorry, I'm just surprised to hear from you."

Scott Powell had sighed almost inaudibly from the other end of the phone.

"I know your mother and I hurt you, but we would like to start making amends for the way we treated you, and Duncan, all those years ago."

"This isn't like one of those little cuts I'd get when I'd fall off my bike as a kid Dad. A Band-Aid isn't going to fix what you did to my family," Courtney had said, placing special emphasis on the words "my family." "It's going to take a long time for our relationship to recover and it will never be the same."

"Your mother and I understand and we weren't expecting forgiveness; we certainly don't deserve it. Honey, we are in this for the long haul, we both want our daughter back and our family whole again."

Courtney didn't waver. "You get one opportunity. Don't mess up."

"We'll make you proud," Scott had coughed to cover his emotions. "I can't believe my little girl now has her own little girl."

"Who told you?"

"I know we never responded, but we read all your e-mails, so we knew you were pregnant, but Duncan called once Ella, a beautiful name sweetie, was born. He thought we should know, regardless of his personal feelings towards us."

"Oh, I see. Well, she's gorgeous, but right now we are just praying for her. There's nothing else the doctors can do, survival is up to Ella now."

"Yes, Duncan mentioned she was sick," Scott had interrupted. "Your mother and I would like to help out with the expenses and, when the hospital says it is okay, pay for Ella to be in a private room, so that the two of you can have as much time with her as you want."

"Dad we're not accepting any money from you."

"I'm not giving the money to you; I'm giving it to my only grandchild."

"Dad—"

"End of discussion. I have to go now, but take care and stay strong. I will be in touch soon. You don't need to say it back, but I love you."

"Thank you."

"Say 'hello' to your husband for me and your mother."

"I will. Good-bye Dad."

"Goodbye sweetie."

And that had been that. The beginning of the healing process for the Powell's brought on by a little miracle.

Today though, Duncan was going to relish in his alone time with his daughter. After practically living in the hospital for the past four months, Gwen had told Courtney that she needed to get out, if just for dinner. The former Goth girl had been able to convince her to come to dinner and a movie with her, Trent, LeShawna, Harold, and Cody and to let Duncan worry for the night (not that he didn't worry every night).

So, Duncan sat in their private room finally allowed to hold his daughter without a doctor or nurse looking over his shoulder to monitor the baby's safety. He sat in the surprisingly plush chair and just held his Ella, wires and impossibly small hands and feet and all. He just sat there and stared at her in complete awe.

He couldn't believe he had helped make this perfect person. He wasn't sure how to be a father, but the first time he held her he had promised himself that he would be the best father in the whole damn universe. He couldn't help but think of the future. He would thrill in her first words and steps, enjoy teaching her how to ride a bike and check all of her homework. He would be pained as she grew-up and became closer to Courtney and grew farther apart from him. He wouldn't help matters by running off possible suitors and threatening boyfriends.

He had never felt love like this so quickly, so all consuming. Duncan would die or kill for Ella without hesitation and he had known that the second her little finger, in those first precious and uncertain hours of her life, wrapped around his own. Currently he held Ella lightly against his chest, stroking her soft skin and humming softly. She yawned and stretched her little limbs opening her blue eyes, his color Duncan admired for the millionth time, to look at him.

"Hi Ella. Do you remember me? I'm your daddy. How're you today?"

Ella simply stared back in response.

"Good to hear. Mommy sends her love, but Gwen, um Auntie Gwen to you…maybe…we'll see. Anyway, Mommy went out for awhile to unwind because otherwise she would drive Daddy insane. No one wants that, huh?"

Ella gurgled slightly.

"So where did we leave off last time? We talked about all three of your ridiculous uncles, but to recap, Uncle David is married to Aunt Katherine and their daughter is your older cousin Julia. Uncle Andrew will probably never get married, but he's been reunited with Sherry for awhile now, so you never know. Finally, Uncle Kellan has Lizzy and he's the one that makes those funny faces at you that you don't find funny at all."

Duncan paused to make sure Ella was following.

"I guess that just leaves Mommy, huh? Where and how do I begin to explain your Mommy? Well, she's incredible to start. She's exotically gorgeous, sickeningly smart, funny, but with a dry sense of humor. She has a huge heart, but can be ruthless when necessary. She's an insanely driven overachiever, but since we found out about you coming along she's mellowed out. A little bit."

He gently rocked her back and forth for a minute before continuing.

"I hope you achieve a million times more in this world than your Mom and I put together. You're gonna be an amazing person. I got a good feeling about you kid."

Silently, Duncan continued to rock his daughter enjoying their bonding moment.

"I love you my Ella. I think I gotta think of a new name for your Mom. Well, she's always been my Princess, but I think it's about time she gets moved up to Queen. What do you think? "

Ella blinked several times with her wide blue eyes.

"It's settled then. Courtney is now my Queen and you, my Ella, will be my little Princess. How does that sound?"

She gurgled happily. Duncan leaned down and kissed her head.

"Good. I love you Princess."


	14. Of homecomings and happiness

"Awe, bye Ella!"

"Be good cupcake."

"My favorite baby is leaving? Oh, a sad day for me, but a happy day for you two. She's such a sweet natured little girl. Good luck!"

"Enjoy her now, they grow up so fast."

The nurses and doctors at the hospital had mixed feelings about Ella going home. They were sad to see their favorite patient go, but overjoyed that she was healthy enough to be released. Duncan and Courtney were elated to be able to bring their daughter home after four long months. Ella had been born in November, when it was extremely cold, and was coming home now in March, now that all of that cold had dissipated and the snow had melted.

They were excited to show Ella her new residency, but even more excited to introduce her to everyone. Both Duncan and Courtney's families, immediate and extended, were clamoring to meet the newest member of their families and to, of course, spoil the little angel rotten. The couple's friends were also looking forward to meeting the baby. Most were married, sans children, or in a relationship and almost desperate to be able to practice for parenthood. Duncan and Courtney didn't mind the idea of practice, eventually; it just meant they had many built-in babysitters.

The couple carefully put Ella in her car seat and Duncan drove incredibly below the speed limit; Courtney was turned around in her seat, staring at Ella as if she took her eyes off of her she would disappear.

When they arrived home Courtney slowly removed Ella from the backseat and the couple, now a small group, walked slowly up the walkway and into the house. The house had been cleaned to the point of obsession. Neither Courtney nor Duncan dared take the chance of having any germ or possible allergen in the house for a fear of Ella getting sicker.

The only possible allergens were the dozens of bouquets that were decorating and crowding the kitchen. The Evers had received congratulation flowers from every single former _TDI_ cast member, a joint one from Chris and Chef, a bouquet made of fruit from Maureen, ones from each of their siblings, and each set of parents had sent one over too. Duncan joked that he and Courtney should quit their jobs and open a florist shop.

Ella had had an exciting morning so far and it had taken its toll; she was fast asleep, her light brown peach fuzz hair a little flyaway. Duncan opened Ella's bedroom door ushering in his two favorite ladies. In the four months Ella had been in the hospital the room had been flooded with more stuff. Kellan had gone crazy with buying his niece pretty much everything he came across, mostly stuffed animals. Lizzy had enlisted Maureen and Katherine as accomplices in many shopping trips; they didn't want Ella to suffer from Courtney's lack of fashion sense. The baby had more clothes now than Duncan and Courtney combined.

The couple had also invested in everything they would need in order to properly take care of their daughter. They had stocked up on formula and bottles along with a couple of pacifiers for when she was a little older. The bottom of one of the hall closets had been cleared of bed linens and replaced with packages of diapers and baby powder. In her bedroom they had also left a small section of carpet by the crib bare because the doctors had informed them that Ella would have to be on oxygen for some time and they needed a place to keep the oxygen equipment. All and all the couple had tried to be as prepared as possible for their new housemate.

Courtney placed Ella into her crib, already missing the contact, and wound the mobile. She just stood at the side of the crib gazing down at her daughter adoringly for awhile. Duncan stood a good couple of feet behind Courtney and marveled at the changes in his wife.

Some of the changes were subtle. Courtney had become more nurturing and seemed to be calmer and less argumentative. She began eating healthy and kept up her exercise regime from when she was still pregnant; the healthier she became the better she felt which led to her being happy and positive. She had gotten used to rising early because the nurses had said Ella was an early bird and she had become a lighter sleeper so that the second Ella made a noise she could be there. Motherhood suited Courtney well and it only made Duncan love her more.

He moved to Courtney and stood behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. She automatically leaned into his embrace. The two stood in silence for a few minutes watching Ella sleep.

"God, she is so perfect," Courtney whispered.

"I know, and we _made_ her."

"It's incredible."

"Ya know," Duncan began sheepishly, "she makes me want to be a better person. She makes me want to change the world."

"I know what you mean. I'm going to do everything in my power to be Supermom."

"Please you're already Supermom."

"Awe, glad to know you haven't lost your exceptional flattering skills."

Courtney turned around in Duncan's embrace and kissed him briefly before continuing.

"I have this amazing feeling of completeness. I know it sounds corny, but our house is a home now. We're a true family."

"So you're happy?"

"More than I ever thought was possible."

"Good. I want nothing but happiness for my Queen."

"You're so swee—Queen? Since when have you started calling me Queen? What happened to Princess?"

"I can't, in all good conscious, call you that anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because our family has evolved and Ella is my little Princess. And you," Duncan grinned, "are my Queen now."

"Oh, Ella has already got her Daddy wrapped around her little finger," Courtney beamed. "So what does this new family name hierarchy make you, the court jester?"

"Oh how I've missed your sarcasm," Duncan responded, turning on the baby monitor. "Come on let's get something to eat before she wakes up."

"Okay. Have a good nap Ella. We love you."

"And, of course, welcome home sweet pea."


	15. Epilogue

"Daddy please can I go on the swings? Pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top?"

"How can I say no to that face? Just take your brother with you and watch over him."

"Okay Daddy! Come on Tommy!"

Duncan smiled as he watched Ella, now seven, skip away, brown pigtails bouncing, holding her five year-old brother Tommy's hand. His kids were growing up so fast and he didn't like that. He admired Courtney as she leaned over and spread out the blanket and placed down the picnic basket while simultaneously keeping an eye on their youngest child, two-year old Clara, who wobblingly made her way to her Dad and the family's rescued mutt, Rex.

"Come on Clar-bear, a few more steps," Duncan encouraged.

When she got close enough he pulled her to him quickly causing her to giggle.

"There's my happy girl."

Clara quickly began to squirm in his grasp and point to her older siblings, babbling incessantly.

"You want to go on the swings too, huh? You're still a little young for the big girl swings, don't you think Mom?"

"Yup. And how many times have I asked you not to call me Mom? It's creepy when you say it," Courtney explained, taking a seat next to her husband of nine, almost ten, years.

"Well you know I don't listen baby."

Ella and Tommy, who had already grown tired of the swings, returned to their parents and interrupted them.

"Mommy, me and El want to go play in the sandbox. Can we?"

Courtney surveyed the distance between their picnic spot and the parks large sandbox before responding, "I guess, but make sure you can always see us, okay?"

"Thank you Mommy," Tommy smiled, wrapping his little arms around her neck in a hug.

"Your welcome. Take Clara with you to please."

"Awe, Mom, but she's so annoying."

"Thomas," Duncan cut in, his voice stern, "don't say that about your sister. And don't argue with your mother."

Tommy sighed and rolled his blue eyes towards the sky, knowing he had lost because his Dad had used his full name.

"Fine, come on Clara." Ella took one hand and Tommy the other and the three Evers siblings made their way to the sandbox.

"Alone at last." Duncan grinned lasciviously at Courtney, pulling her close and trailing kisses up her neck.

Courtney moaned a little, closing her eyes in pleasure before coming to her senses and pushing him away gently.

"Not here, are you crazy? We're not teenagers anymore."

"You could've fooled me. Three kids and you've never looked hotter." Courtney rolled her eyes.

She threw a glance at the sandbox and gently pet Rex, who wagged his tail at the attention.

"God they've gotten so big. It feels like it was just yesterday that Ella was born and now she's in first grade."

"I know. Tommy's in kindergarten and we only have about a year until Clara goes to preschool."

"You know what this means right?" Courtney questioned. Duncan raised an eyebrow questioningly as he lay back on the blanket.

"It means we're getting old."

"Speak for yourself."

"Duncan we're thirty-four."

"Yeah and in the prime of our lives."

Having learned over the years that when he spoke in the matter-of-fact tone that he was speaking in now he wouldn't listen to a thing she said, Courtney wisely changed the subject and began unpacking the picnic basket.

"So I got Bridgette her baby shower gift yesterday. It's a little pair of jean overalls with a surfboard on the front; I thought it was beyond appropriate."

"Nice. Ya know it's so amusing to see Geoff start freaking out about impending fatherhood. He used to make fun of me all of time; I can't wait to return the favor."

"That's horrible," Courtney admonished, although the grin that spread across her face gave her true feelings away. "Did you harass Andrew or Trent or Harold or Owen? I don't think so."

"As a brother it was my duty to dispense Andrew, and Sherry, advice before they had Taylor. Trent was my homie when you were preggers with Ella, so screwing with him was off limits. Besides it was obvious him and Gwen were gonna be great artsy parents anyway," Duncan explained.

"Well what about Harold and Owen?"

"Never messed with them either. I was too afraid LeShawna or Izzy would kill me. What about you, you didn't try to scare Lizzy?"

"Of course not! I knew Kellan would be a great dad and I knew Lizzy would…figure it out," Courtney said. She turned to Rex and gave him a carrot before telling him to "Go get Ellie, Tommy, and Clara."

The mutt trotted off towards the sandbox to follow his master's orders, tail wagging the whole way.

"I love that dog."

"I know," Courtney said, rolling her eyes. "Sometimes I think you love him more than you love me."

"Well the dog does listen to me," Duncan joked, trailing off when he noticed his wife's stern glare.

Grinning, Courtney leaned in and captured his lips in a passionate kiss.

"Love you too, delinquent."

As Rex walked the Evers children back to their parents, Duncan sprang up removing the high-tech digital camera from the picnic basket and then its case, setting it up in front of the blanket.

"Daddy, are we getting our pictures taken?"

"We sure are Princess. Okay guys go over by Mommy and smile big."

Duncan set the timer and ran back to his spot next to Courtney, who was holding a laughing Tommy in a tight hug as she tickled him lightly, Rex sitting on the other side of her howling. Sitting down he pulled Ella and Clara, his two Princesses, into his lap splitting kisses between them causing them to giggle and shriek happily.

The camera beeped and the flash went off capturing the family candidly. In later years, as the children grew-up, it would become Duncan and Courtney's most cherished picture. For now though, the Evers were together and happy, enjoying their time as a family.

Duncan and Courtney had finally gotten their 'Happily Ever After.'

**A/N: The End! I just wanted to say a huge "Thank You!" to all of my reviewers (and even those who follwed, but didn't review)! I had a blast writing this story and am so glad you guys enjoyed it so much! You guys rock! Thanks! :D**


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